“How often should I go to the chiropractor?”
I want to have chiropractic adjustment for my sciatic nerve pain, since it's unbearable at times. How often should I go to the chiropractor for this?
10 Answers
Go to your chiropractor, have an examination and diagnosis, and your chiropractor will make a treatment plan that is appropriate for your condition. There is no cookie-cutter adjustment frequency for conditions. If you don’t like what your chiropractor says, go to another one for a second opinion.
Sciatica can be caused by different sets of problems. If a chiropractor examined you and concluded that adjustments would improve the sciatic nerve pain, I would say that a couple weeks of treatment would be ample to see if your pain was improved by the treatment. From that point, too many variables can affect the time to hopefully resolve your sciatic condition if it was still persisting.
Really it depends on what the doctor sees in the exam. Once a week would be good to keep it on track, but if you are in terrible pain, you may need to go more than once a week to get it straightened out in the beginning.
It's hard to tell how many treatments you may need because it depends on what is causing the sciatica. If it is due to a spinal issue (disc, bone), it may take longer than if it is strictly due to muscle problem (piriformis muscle). I would think that a 4-6 visits initially with chiropractic and soft tissue care will get some results and then further care can be done depending on your response. The chiropractor should do a thorough exam to determine extent of sciatica first.
I have treated hundreds of these. Start at 3x/wk for 2-3 months. Then back off to once per week for maintenance. Depending on the condition of your spine, of course. But this is a good recommendation to start with!
Respectfully,
Respectfully,
After clinical and X-ray analysis by your doctor of chiropractic, a treatment plan is then decided depending upon on what you want to accomplish. Daily relief is a good
start.
Dr. Homer Wal
start.
Dr. Homer Wal
Usually once sciatica has developed it has become chronic and takes time to bring under manageable control. Depending on the clinical findings, I normally will see a patient 3x a week for 2-4 weeks, 2x a week for 2-4 weeks then 1x a week for 2-4 weeks. It may seem like a broad spectrum, but a lot depends on the longevity of the condition, complicating factors such as age, physical condition, disc involvement, or spinal curvature and how quickly the patient responds to treatment. Once I have the patient's condition under control, I advise a wellness program of one visit every 4-6 weeks, symptoms or not. It is easier to control a condition and more economical this way other than let it recur over time and have to start again.
One word of advice: If you are male, don't sit on your wallet, and if female, don't wear heels more than for extended periods. Both of these help to create sciatica because they cause structural imbalance.
One word of advice: If you are male, don't sit on your wallet, and if female, don't wear heels more than for extended periods. Both of these help to create sciatica because they cause structural imbalance.
It depends on how much spinal and disc damage you have.
I would suggest once per week for 8-10 weeks for this issue.
Every patient is different and will require a different amount of visits than the next person. A treatment plan will be based on severity, age, how long the symptoms have been occurring and if there are any other health issues. A chiropractor should perform a musculoskeletal exam on each patient and confirm your diagnosis. Along with chiropractic adjustments, the chiropractor should also give at home rehab exercises for the patient to take initiative of their health and speed up recovery.
